by Dean, Warren
A reporter interrupted him. "General, it is rumoured that Belanov was one of the first Russians to be inoculated, and that he believes that only those with Faerie Blood should be entitled to govern from now on. Are you able to comment on this?"
Yashin made a dismissive gesture. "I cannot confirm or deny this. What I can say is that his motives are irrelevant. His possession of nuclear weapons is illegal and his demands are treasonous. When he is caught he will face the full sanction of the law."
"Does the government intend to evacuate the Kremlin for its own safety?"
"That is classified." An aide rushed up to Yashin and whispered something in his ear. He abruptly concluded the interview and strode away.
Their food arrived and they ate in silence, shocked by the latest development.
Almost every day brought news of conflicts, disasters and tragedies. It had begun with increasing numbers of strikes and demonstrations around the world. In an attempt to preserve dwindling resources, many governments were adopting a twin-pronged approach; announcing significant increases in taxes and introducing more and more restrictions on the rights of people with Faerie Blood. They in turn were becoming more and more desperate to provide for their own futures and less and less willing to abide by the law.
The problem was that the number of strikers and demonstrators was increasing exponentially as more and more people were inoculated. The digital counter displayed by the Personet channels was now over three billion.
Governments were unable to control the rate of inoculations. Riots were breaking out. Crime rates were soaring. Lately there had been a growing number of rebellions and revolutions in smaller countries, many of which had turned into nasty civil wars.
The latest, and perhaps most disturbing, development had been the emergence of warlords; people who had been inoculated and who, like Belanov, believed that they should no longer be ruled by ordinary people. Only those with Faerie Blood should be in positions of power. Convinced that they would never have to account for their crimes, they did not hesitate to buy or steal whatever they needed to carry out their plans.
When Katya and her companions left the galley the increased presence of American military personnel was noticeable. All areas regarded by Armitage as sensitive, including the hangar bay, had been cordoned off. Otherwise everything on the base continued as normal. They split up to report to their respective governments. Katya decided that she might as well return to her quarters to do it; there was nothing she was going to say that Armitage wouldn't expect.
She tried to contact Yashin; he was the one most likely to make the right decisions. Unfortunately he couldn't be reached. The Belanov situation demanded his full attention. So she reported to the head of Roscosmos, the Russian Space Agency, and endured the inevitable tirade of bluster and criticism which met her news. By the end of the conversation, bureaucratic logic had decreed that she was to blame for the whole thing.
Exhausted, she lay down on her bunk and fell asleep.
When the hatch buzzer woke her, she thought she had been asleep for just a few minutes. But when she groggily checked the time on her 'link, it showed that it had been hours.
The buzzer sounded again. "Intercom," she said into her 'link, and then, "Yes, who is it?"
There was no answer.
Probably Hans, playing games. How could someone who was so intelligent be so childish? How bad did things have to get before he grew up? Well, she wasn't in the mood. She stood up and tried to straighten the clothes she had fallen asleep in, before striding over to the hatch. She thumbed the touchscreen and the hatch sprang open. There was no-one there. She stepped into the corridor and looked from side to side but it was empty. Annoyed, she was about to go back inside when she heard what sounded like the hiss of laser fire. The sound was distant and there was just a short burst. She stood transfixed, wondering if she had been mistaken.
She heard nothing more and began to think that it must have been something else. Or was someone resisting Armitage's takeover? But surely no-one would be insane enough to open fire on the moonbase?
She stood still, listening, but it was eerily silent. Even the usual background bustle of the base was absent. She had just decided to go and investigate, when she heard the sound of a hatch slide open somewhere down the corridor behind her. Startled, she spun around. She saw nothing for a moment and then someone stuck his head out into the corridor. She wasn't shocked to see that it was Hans. She put her hands on her hips and opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing. He quickly put a finger to his lips and beckoned her with his other hand. Then he disappeared back inside.
Mystified, she closed the hatch to her quarters and followed him into what turned out to be a small maintenance store. As soon as she entered, he closed the hatch and thumbed the touchscreen command which sealed it. A surprise awaited her inside; Harry and Carson were standing further back amongst the shelves of cleaning materials.
"What is going on? What are you three doing in here?" she demanded.
"Saving you from the Chinese soldiers," whispered Hans.
"What Chinese soldiers?"
"Not so loud, please." He stood listening intently at the hatch.
A short time later, they heard a muffled clattering of boots in the corridor outside. A voice gave a command in Mandarin and they heard a hatch slide open. There was a brief silence, and then they heard the hatch close and the clattering of boots again, this time receding into the distance.
Hans breathed a sigh of relief. "We had better stay here until we have decided what to do."
She looked from him to the others and back again. "Will someone please explain what is going on?"
"You had better tell her, Carson, you know more than I do," said Hans, sitting wearily on a small packing crate.
"General Chang has taken over the base," said the American.
That was a shock. "How did he manage that? I thought you had secured it?"
"A shuttle came in about an hour ago from Beijing. It was full of Chinese Special Forces soldiers. It was a scheduled supply shuttle, so our suspicions were not aroused. The soldiers came out of the docking tube so fast there was nothing we could do to stop them."
"How did they get here so quickly?"
"That is what we have been wondering. We think General Chang must have intended to invade the base all along and had them standing by. He was probably going to wait until the star drive was ready, but General Armitage's decision yesterday forced him to act."
"How did you get away?"
"I was with General Armitage in the operations room when the shuttle came in. One of our technicians in the docking bay managed to give us a few minutes warning. The general ordered me to find Dr Mattheus and Dr Hasper and keep them out of the hands of the Chinese."
"Why would he want you to do that?"
"He knows that without them, the Chinese won't be able to develop a working star drive; at least not in the short term. He may disapprove of their behaviour, but he realises that they are vital to the success of the project. And he realises that if they manage to develop a star drive, they will share the information with the other delegations, whereas General Chang probably won't."
"Why didn't Armitage come with you?"
"He knows that Chang would tear the base apart looking for him. The Chinese can't afford to leave the head of a rival delegation roaming the base."
"Wouldn't that apply to the three of us too?" asked Hans.
"Yes, but before I left him, the general made a false entry in the computer log of last night's shuttle to Munich. It reflects that you and Dr Hasper were on board. Hopefully, Chang will believe that you were recalled by your governments when you reported yesterday's events. If he doesn't dig too deeply, he may not realise that the two of you are still here."
Katya scowled. "What about me?"
Carson shook his head. "I'm sorry, but the general didn't include your name in the false entry."
"That's not very nice of him."
; "He probably thought that it would look too suspicious if all three of us were supposedly on the shuttle," said Hans hurriedly, with a glance at Katya's deepening glare.
"Hang on, chaps, interjected Harry, "I appreciate the general's quick thinking, but what does he expect the four of us to do?"
"The two of you," Carson corrected him.
"I beg your pardon?"
The American sighed. "The colonel and I have to give ourselves up. That leaves just the two of you."
"Why on Earth would you give yourself up after going to such great lengths to escape? And why should Katya give herself up?"
She answered the question. "Because Chang knows that Carson and I are still on the base and the longer we are unaccounted for, the harder his soldiers will search. Sooner or later they will find us, and you and Hans will probably be discovered in the process. If the captain and I are captured without too much trouble, he will have no need to continue searching. We have to give ourselves up so that the two of you can remain free."
She turned her lingering scowl on Carson. "What puzzles me, Captain, is why you came to warn me at all? Wouldn't it have been better for you to just let the Chinese find me?"
"That was his idea," he said hurriedly, jerking a thumb in the direction of Hans.
"It was nice of you to think of warning me, Hans, but what was the point? All you have done is to take an unnecessary risk."
He shook his head. "A risk perhaps, but not an unnecessary one. You see, all Armitage had a chance to do in the few minutes he had available was to buy Harry and me a little time. He wasn't able to come up with any bright ideas. He left that up to us. So far, the only thing we have been able to think of is getting ourselves onto Earthworm. If we can get aboard undetected, we can access the base computer system and continue work on the star drive. If we are careful, the Chinese won't know we are there. They don't need to spend much time on the ship; the star drive hardware is virtually complete. They will probably concentrate on work at the tech-centre. If we can get the star drive working before we are discovered, perhaps we can make some kind of deal with Chang.
"You still haven't told me what you need me for."
The German squirmed a little. "The Chinese will have secured the hangar bay and we can't think of a way of getting onto the ship without being seen. So I thought, well, you have a reputation for coming up with clever ideas."
"You want me to come up with a plan to get you and Harry onto the star ship undetected by a base full of Chinese Special Forces soldiers?"
He had the grace to look a little embarrassed. "If possible, yes."
There was silence as all three men tried not to look sheepish.
"Well, if anyone can do it, you can," said Harry lamely.
She had half a mind to tell them that it was impossible, but the other half was already taking up the challenge. She sat down on the floor and rubbed her temples.
"Well, the solution is obvious, but that means Chang may think of it too, so we will have to distract him."
Three blank expressions met this pronouncement.
She glanced at Carson. "Do they control the entire base? Do you know whether any of your men are holding out anywhere?"
"I doubt it," replied Carson. "The soldiers stationed here are not combat troops. They are not much more than security guards, really. General Armitage kept them mainly to maintain the illusion of control."
"Have any of you seen or heard any signs of a battle?"
They all shook their heads.
"I heard a single burst of laser fire earlier, but that may have been just a warning shot."
Carson agreed. "Probably; General Armitage wouldn't risk damaging the base in a fire fight. Outnumbered by Chinese forces, he would have had no choice but to surrender."
"So, we must assume that Armitage and the American soldiers have been captured and that the Chinese control the entire base," she continued. "They won't allow any shuttles other than those from Beijing to dock, so we can't expect any help from Earth."
"And we are locked in a cupboard with no provisions or weapons, other than the captain's sidearm," added Harry helpfully.
"Thank you for stating the obvious, Harry," responded Hans glumly.
"Shut up, you cretins." The scowl was back on her face, but this time it was one of concentration. "We can't stay here. Soon they will search the base room by room and find us. Captain, are there any closed or disused parts of the base where they won't think to look?"
"Not at all; we had to build additional capacity when it was commissioned for this project. There are a few docking bays which are currently unused, but they lead out into space."
"How many airlocks are there?"
"Eight altogether, and before you ask, they each have a space-suit locker nearby. The problem is that, as soon as the inner hatch of any airlock is opened, the operations room is alerted. Chang will be in control of the ops room by now. So, even if we get to an airlock, suit up, and get outside, it won't take them long to find us and haul us back in. And even if they don't, each suit holds a maximum of ten hours of air, so we won't be able to stay out there for long."
"There is an airlock in the hangar bay, isn't there? I have seen it."
"Yes," he said. "The outer surface of the dome is sometimes struck by meteorites and space debris. Maintenance technicians use it to go out and check for damage. But the hangar bay has been sealed off by the Chinese and there are other airlocks closer to where we are now."
She stared silently at the floor for a while, and then jumped to her feet. "Well, it's risky, but it is the only thing I can think of which might work."
The three men exchanged glances; none of them willing to be the first to admit that he had no idea what she was thinking.
"Are we going to steal some Chinese uniforms?" ventured Hans. "And then you and Carson can pretend to have arrested us and march us off to the ship?"
She gave him a withering look. "Good idea, Hans, I will easily blend in with all of the other tall, blonde women in the Chinese ranks. And the last place captured prisoners would be taken is to the hangar bay. They would be taken to the brig."
She turned to Carson. "Hans is right about one thing; we need to do some stealing first. Get to the nearest airlock and steal two space-suits. Take Harry with you. Then meet Hans and me at the airlock adjacent to docking bay four, where Emissary was moored. It hasn't been used since the Faerie Folk left, so that area should be quiet."
"Why do we need two extra suits? Each locker has a dozen suits on stand-by at all times. And what is the point of going outside? There is nothing out there."
She shook her head, exasperated by their lack of imagination. "It's quite simple. Hans and Harry need to get to Earthworm, but the Chinese have cordoned off the hangar bay. They are also busy searching the base. I don't see how Hans and Harry could possibly sneak into the hangar bay and onto the ship from within the base. So they are going to have to go around."
"Around what?" asked Harry, nervously.
"Around the outside of the base. It isn't a long way from docking bay four to the hangar bay airlock. You have both had spacewalk training, haven't you?"
"Er, yes, but this sort of thing is not exactly our forte, Colonel."
"Look, you wanted me to come up with an idea and there is no time to argue. The Chinese are searching for us right now. Carson, get the two suits and meet us at the docking bay as soon as you can."
"Where are you going?"
"I need to collect a few things from the Russian delegation stores."
"But aren't you and I going to give ourselves up?"
"Yes, but not just yet, so don't get caught."
No-one moved.
"How are we going to get out of here without being seen?" asked Hans, almost apologetically.
She sighed. "Do I have to think of everything? Isn't this a maintenance store? There must be sanitation uniforms in here. If we change into them we should be bit less conspicuous. I don't think Chang is looking to arrest
everyone on the base. Hopefully his soldiers have order to leave the cleaners alone."
They changed into sanitation uniforms, and then Carson opened the hatch and risked a look up and down the corridor. It was deserted and he and Harry hurried away.
"We go the other way," she said, taking a step towards the hatch. Hans put a hand on her arm. She looked at him in surprise; it was the first time he had ever touched her.
He closed the hatch. "Katya, do you really think this is going to work?"
She closed the hatch and looked him in the eye. "Hans, I can get you onto the ship, but that is the best I can do. The rest is up to you. You have been telling me for weeks that you are close to a breakthrough. I hope that is true, because you are going to have no more than a few days to finish what you need to finish."
A little bit of confidence came back into his face. "Don't worry; I just need a little more time. But, once I get the star drive up and running, what do I do then? How do I use it to get Chang to relinquish control of the base and let everyone go?"
She scowled. "I don't think he will agree to do that. He has gone too far to back down. He will probably lock you up and force you to give him the information he wants or simply ignore you and wait until his own people are able to replicate your work."
He looked a little taken aback. "So, we are risking our lives for no reason; there is nothing we can do."
She shook her head. "I didn't say that. There is another option. Once you get the star drive working, take Earthworm on its maiden voyage."
His eyebrows shot up. "How are we going to manage that? Who is going to pilot the ship if you give yourself up? And how are we going to open the hangar bay dome? There is an override system in the ops room."
"Let me worry about all that. There is just one thing I need to know. How long will it take you to finish the star drive?"
He pulled a face. "I can't answer that; it might take a week, perhaps two."
"We don't have that much time. Chang will throw me in the brig at first, but if my government starts making threats, he may decide that it is simpler to send me back to Earth. I will have a few days, at most, to escape and join you. You need someone to pilot the ship, remember. But if I escape before you are ready, the Chinese will realise what is going on and capture us before we can get away. We have to time this to perfection, so give me your best guess."